Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Outline 1. Text 2. Doctrine 3. Application

[Sung Psalm: 23] When shepherds fail, in Ezekiel 34, the result is that the sheep begin to fight and quarrel. The sheep that have good pasture trample on the rest to prevent other sheep from eating; after drinking themselves, they muddy the water so that the rest have nothing. The strong sheep "thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad." "Strong" – you see – does not mean "strong in the Lord" weak does not mean spiritually weak. The strong sheep is one who has the power to intimidate the weak. God promises that he will judge between the strong and the weak, between the fat and the lean. He will give them one shepherd – "my servant David." The people of God need a shepherd. They need someone who will feed them. Someone who will ensure that the weak get enough food, and that the strong do not get too much. They need someone who will judge their quarrels and defend them from their enemies. And this is why the Son of David sings "The LORD is my shepherd"...

It's important to see that Herem warfare, or holy war, is actually spiritual warfare. With Sodom and Gomorrah, God brought fire from heaven. But his purpose is to bring salvation to the earth – and fire from heaven cannot accomplish that! His purpose is to bring salvation through a man – and so humanity must become the agent of salvation: and thus of judgment also. In Egypt it was the angel of death sweeping through the land – in order to bring Israel out of bondage – "Israel is my son, my firstborn – let my son go, that he may serve me!" Israel is called to be the son of God – to go to the Land of Promise, where he will receive the inheritance from his Father. And so in Canaan it will be the Son of God who sweeps through the land – destroying the wicked in order to bring salvation to the earth. This is the holy war that Moses is describing in chapters 2-3. And in a holy war the LORD fights for his people. And as we'll see, this points us to Christ, who has defeated all our enemies, and who is the Divine Warr

[Sung Psalm: 129] Judgment begins with the household of God! We've been seeing that in the opening chapters of Deuteronomy on Sunday evenings. God brought Israel – through judgment – into the Promised Land. Now, let's be clear what we mean by judgment. Judgment does not equal condemnation. When a judge renders his verdict, he proclaims his judgment. The judgment that comes on the household of God is God's verdict. Peter is saying that the final judgment has come. The eschatological judgment in which God vindicates his people and condemns his enemies, is beginning. But as with our savior, Jesus Christ, the beginning of the final judgment does not wait until the end of history, but begins in the middle of history. How does this judgment come upon us? Through the fiery trials that are sent to test us...

Sermon outline: 1. Three Names (v. 1a) 2. Three Truths (v. 1b) 3. Three Gifts (v. 2)

What is a holy war? Islamic jihad has given us a modern perspective on this. And some purportedly "Christian" militias have added their own modern take. But there's a problem with all these folks, well, maybe more than just one problem! In Islamic Jihad, the faithful warriors fight for God. In the militia movement, the people are to fight to bring about a righteous nation. But that's not what holy war is about. For modern folks, the people fight for God. In a truly holy war, GOD fights for his people. I say "modern" because contemporary Islamists do not follow historic Islam. They have abandoned historic Islam for a modern "reconstruction" of what Islam must have been!! Just a brief note on this: Historians have noticed that many of the modern Islamist movements grew out of the same soil that produced Christian restoration movements. What they shared was a common idea of "going back to the original way" – the difference was – for Muslims it was "the way of Muhammed" while for Christians it was "the way of Jes

[Sung Psalm: 90] The end of all things is at hand. We live in the last days. Jesus Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake. The resurrection of Jesus Christ demonstrated God's righteous judgment. All the wrath that we deserved was poured out upon Christ. He endured the pains of hell for us. And in his resurrection, God declared Jesus to be the righteous one. God's final judgment was declared in Jesus Christ. In Christ we see the eschatological judgment. Therefore, the end of all things is at hand. If God has already declared his final judgment in Christ, then all that remains is the execution of that judgment. The redemption of the saints is accomplished in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All that remains is its application in the salvation of his people. The condemnation of the powers of sin, death and the devil has been accomplished in Christ. All that is left is for them to be cast into the lake of fire. The resurrection of

Deuteronomy 1 is all about the coming of Jesus. After all, Deuteronomy 1:38 says, "Jesus, the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it [the good land that I swore to give to your fathers - v35]." I know, your translation probably says "Joshua" – but Joshua is the same name as Jesus – and when the NT refers to "Joshua" it simply says "Jesus" – because that's his name! We'll see this several times in Deuteronomy – especially here in chapters 1 and 3 – and then again at the end of the book. But this contrast between Moses and Jesus – Moses and Joshua – plays a very important role in the book of Deuteronomy. To put it simply – Moses, the man of the Law, cannot bring you into the land. The Law was not intended as the means to enter the Land. The Law is not how you get in. The Law is how you live in the land. So how do we get in? Jesus – the man whose name means "Yahweh Saves" – only Jesus can bring you into the Promised Land!

[Sung Psalm: 80] There is no glory without suffering. There is no grace without weakness. As a Christian you will suffer. Today we come to the heart of Peter's epistle. Peter regularly moves back and forth between Christ and your situation, showing how your situation needs to be seen in the light of what Christ has done. In chapter 1, we saw that because of the resurrection of Christ, you need to see yourselves as elect exiles in the midst of a foreign land; you have an eschatological hope that gives you joy in the midst of trials (1:1-12). Because Jesus' resurrection is the promise of his return, therefore you need to be holy in all your conduct (1:13-25). Because he is the precious cornerstone, you are being built into the holy temple for God's own dwelling (2:1-10). Because he suffered for you, you must suffer patiently in civic, economic, and domestic life (2:11-3:17)...

Sermon outline: 1. Saved from Egypt (v. 5) 2. Straying Angels (v. 6) 3. Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 7)

[Sung Psalm: 29] We are looking today at Peter's discussion of "the days of Noah" – and if you want to understand what is so important about the "days of Noah," then you need to pay attention to what the rest of the scripture says about this. Often, our impulse is to go back to Genesis 6-9, and then try to make sense of what Peter is saying. But, of course, when Peter thinks about "the days of Noah" – he would remember what Isaiah had said as well...

Moses is about to die. But before he dies there are certain things that he wants Israel to remember. So Moses reminds them of what God has done for them. And what God has said to them. The book of Deuteronomy consists of three sermons which Moses gave to the children of Israel on the plains of Moab before his death, as they were about to enter the Promised Land. And right up front, in the first sermon of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds us of the importance of who leads you. While Moses speaks of many issues in Deuteronomy, one of the primary concerns he has is to ensure that the coming generations will have godly leadership. Therefore the book begins with his reminder to the Israelites of what happened when they listened to the wrong leaders; and it concludes with the transfer of authority from Moses to Joshua, the one who will cause them to inherit the land...

Sermon outline: 1. Foxes (vv. 18–20) 2. Fathers (vv. 21–22) 3. Faith (vv. 23–27)

Sermon outline: 1. Certain Creepers 2. Condemnation Confirmed 3. Contend For our Common Salvation

[Sung Psalm: 73] We're covering much of the same ground as last time – but this time with a different focus. Last time we focused on Christian character – from verse 8 – how our thinking should be characterized by unity of mind – which requires humility of mind; how our feeling should be characterized by sympathy (feeling with) – which requires a tender heart; and how both our thinking and our feeling (both head and guts) need to be characterized by brotherly love, which ties everything together in the Christian life. And we saw how this is demonstrated in Psalm 34 (the quotation in verses 10-12). The Christian life consists of loving God with all our heart, loving our neighbor as ourselves – and then, when we fail, we turn away from evil and do good! – we repent and believe the gospel. And when we live this way – when we are zealous for what is good – we have nothing to fear. Because even if we suffer for righteousness' sake, we are blessed! Christians should never sound scared of what might happen to us. W

[Sung Psalm: 34] Does Peter seem a little naive? "who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?" (v13) Remember this is the same Peter who watched Jesus die on the cross. "who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?" Peter remembers this very well! After all, his next line is: "but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed." Suffering unjustly is a gracious thing! When you suffer unjustly, you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ! This is why our dear brother – a pastor in Egypt several years ago – could say to those who bombed Egyptian churches on Easter Sunday, "thank you!" Thank you! You are giving us instant tickets to the one we love! Unjust suffering is not something good – or something to be desired or sought after! But it is a gracious thing. God's grace pervades the suffering and sanctifies us through it. It is not something you should seek – but neither should you hide from it. Today we come to the central exhortation of Peter's let

Josiah was the last – and best – of the good kings of Jerusalem. He was the best because he repented better than anyone else! He not only turned away from idols – he turned to the living God, and restored the worship of Jerusalem better than anyone before him. But by this time, it was too late. God's purpose in all of this story was to show us the need for Christ! We need a Son of David who will deal with sin once and for all...

Sermon outline: 1. The Authority of Jesus' Teaching (7:28–29) 2. The Authority of Jesus' Healing (8:1–4) 3. The Extent of Jesus' Healing (8:5–17) a. Unto the World b. Unto Salvation

Have you ever had those moments? You did your best -- really! (not just half-heartedly, but you whole-heartedly did your best!) – but it still wasn't good enough. That's Josiah. According to the Word of God, Josiah was the best king ever. He followed God and did what he was supposed to do better than anyone. Even better than David? Well, what does verse 25 say: "Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, ccording to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him." That sure sounds like he was better than David! But even the best king ever was not good enough to turn Yahweh aside from his burning anger against Judah. Why not? "Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him." (2 Kings 23:26) There's the problem: the wages of sin is death. When it comes to God's holy standard, anything

[Sung Psalm: 128] Peter commands wives to "be subject to your own husbands." Submission is a difficult subject in our day. Plainly we live in a very different culture than the apostles did. But the point of what Peter is saying is the same in every time and place. What is submission? Peter enjoins submission three times in this section (2:13-3:6). Christians are to be subject to the emperor and other rulers. Slaves are to be subject to their masters. Wives are to be subject to their husbands. And later, he will say that the younger in the church should be subject to the elders (5:5) Does submission mean the same thing in all four cases? In one sense, yes. The word "likewise" suggests that there is a fundamental similarity between them. All were intended by God to be good: - The state was intended by God to praise the good and punish the wicked. - The master/servant relation was intended to be good, as the master is to reflect the kindness of God in his treatment of his servants. - The marriage relation was in